Balance
by Dragonball X Avalon
Summary: Clark Gibbs is Director of NCIS. Ziva David is Director of Mossad. They shared one kiss years ago when Leroy Jethro Gibbs was stationed in Israel. However, when Ziva comes to Washington because Ari Haswani shot NCIS Agent Chloe Sullivan will they remain just friends? Or will they be able to find a balance and admit how they feel for each other? Slight Tony/Chloe


** A/N: Clark wasn't raised by the Kents! Instead he was adopted by the Gibbs. Takes place during Kill Ari. Tell me what you think.**

"Well I suppose congratulations are in order."

Clark Gibbs grimaced as he heard the words. Typically he would have been grateful for a compliment from one of his oldest friends, but today wasn't a typical day. His best friend since he was eight years old had been shot, and now he had to deal with another one of his best friends, the young man having no doubt that he and his friend would butt heads.

"Usually maybe, but not today. Did you get the file I sent you?"

"I did. Are you certain?"

"I am."

"Then you must let one of my-"

"No. I'm sorry, but I can't do that."

"Ari is a Mossad-"

"He is a killer! He shot my oldest friend in cold blood! If you think for one minute that I am going to turn him over to you just so that you can let him go then you are very mistaken."

"I am not my father Clark. I know what Ari is, and you should know what I will do to men like him."

"I know that Ziva, but I also know that he is your half-brother. I know that you don't want to believe that he is guilty of this." He replied, attempting to keep his voice calm. Ziva sighed, and he knew that she was having as much trouble with this as he was. Neither of them liked being on opposite sides, but that was the price they paid when they accepted the Director's chairs of Mossad and NCIS respectively. You had to do what was needed for the job, and sometimes that meant friendship had to be ignored.

"You also know what Eli did to him." She replied softly, and Clark nodded even though she couldn't see it. He knew what Eli David had done to his son, what he had done to all three of his children. He had witnessed it first-hand, and as much as he wished he could have done something he hadn't been able to. It would have caused an international incident or as his father was fond of saying a major pissing match. Clark sat there for a moment in silent thought before he spoke.

"You're right, I do. That is the only reason why I am about to try to help you." He told her, the young woman grinning on the other side of the phone. Clark may say that was the only reason, but she knew better. He wasn't doing this for Ari or because of her father. No he was doing this for her.

"Here's the way this is going to work. I will allow you to send an officer, and I will assign them to work with one of our teams. I will order Ari Haswani to be brought in alive if at all possible. However, let me be perfectly clear about this Director...If anything happens to Chloe, Ari Haswani will be going back to Israel in a body bag, and I will personally put a bullet in his skull."

"I understand, and Clark...thank you."

"You're welcome. When this is over we should get together for drinks. It's been far too long since I've seen you."

"I know. I will buy the first round. The Mossad officer will be arriving tomorrow afternoon."

"That's fine. Shalom Ziva."

"Shalom Clark."

Clark sighed as he put down the phone, and walked out to the bullpen. This was not going to be fun.

"Agent Gibbs, I need you and your team in my office. Now." Gibbs head shot up as he heard his son's voice, knowing something was wrong; even after he had spent the last month as Director of NCIS Clark never called him Agent Gibbs. It was always just Gibbs or Dad. However, he didn't let any of his emotion show; instead he just nodded and walked up the stairs and into the Director's office, McGee, and Tony following behind.

"Take a seat."

"I'll stand if you don't mind." Gibbs replied, and Clark just glared before shrugging his shoulders as if telling his father to suit himself.

"I am ordering Ari Haswani to be brought in alive if at all possible. Also, there is a Mossad officer that will be arriving here tomorrow afternoon. Once that person gets here, they will be assigned to your team Agent Gibbs."

"Excuse me?"

"I just got off the phone with the Director of Mossad, and I agreed to allow them to help us catch Haswani."

"Are you out of your mind Probie? Your best friend is on a ventilator because of that son of a bitch and-"

"I know Tony. You also know that I'm not a probie anymore. Believe me, I don't like this anymore than you do, but if it helps improve relations with Mossad than that's what Chloe would want."

"I know." Tony replied, knowing that the younger man was right. Chloe would rather they work to make better friends with Mossad then just go after Haswani in a blind rage. He couldn't help but smile slightly as he thought of what his girlfriend would say if she was here. She'd tell him to get his head on straight and then she'd say some other things that he couldn't repeat in mixed company.

"Believe me, I know how much she means to you Tony. Chloe's the closest thing I have to a sister, and I already told Director David that if anything happened to Chloe I would put a bullet is Haswani myself. Now get out of here and go see Chloe. I'll be by as soon as I finish up here." He said, and Tony nodded before standing up and walking out, Tim following close behind. The door shut and Clark was left alone with his father who looked at him in silence before his face finally broke into a grin.

"So I see your feelings for Ziva haven't changed."

"What are you talking about?"

"No matter what you told DiNozzo I know why you allowed a Mossad officer to join my team, and it wasn't to make friends with Mossad. It was for her wasn't it? I remember when I was stationed over there. You and Ziva were damn near inseperable."

"Is it wrong what I did?" Clark asked, suddenly sounding unsure.

"Do you love Ziva?" Gibbs asked, and Clark smiled.

"Yes. I always have."

"Then you did the right thing. Although I still wish you had talked to me before putting a Mossad officer on my team."

"Rule eighteen. Better to ask forgiveness than permission." Clark replied with a grin, making his father glare at him.

"I taught you too well. Now if you'll excuse me Director, I'm going to check on Chloe."

"I'll be down in a few, got some paperwork I need to finish. The joys of being Director."

"Better you than me." Gibbs shot back before walking out of the office.

"Director, the Mossad officer has arrived." His assistant Janet said, poking her head into his office the next afternoon.

"Thank you Janet, please show them in." He replied, and she nodded giving him a smile as she did so. He grinned in return, rolling his eyes as she left. He had tried to convince her to call him Clark, but she wouldn't hear of it, saying that it was inappropriate for someone of his position.

"Good afternoon Director."

Clark looked up and smiled as he saw the agent standing there.

"Good afternoon...Director."

Chapter 2

Clark stood up from his desk and walked over to where Ziva was standing, taking a moment to look her over. She was even more beautiful than he remembered, and he couldn't help but remember the times they had shared all those years ago. Suddenly he closed the gap between them and embraced the young woman, the woman he had not seen in so many years. Ziva returned his embrace, both of them knowing that it would be considered unprofessional, but neither one caring. After what felt like a lifetime but was actually only a moment the two separated tears in both their eyes.

"I've missed you Ziva." Clark said softly as he sat back behind his desk, Ziva taking the seat across from him.

"I have missed you as well Clark." She replied with a smile, her smile turning mischievous after a moment.

"So does that mean you do not mind that I came as opposed to sending another agent?"

"Of course not. In fact, I would rather it be you anyway. You're the only person in Mossad I trust. Are you sure it's alright for you to be here though Ziva? I mean you are kind of the Director of Mossad."

"Yes, and I can run the Mossad just as easily from Washington as I can from Tel Aviv. Besides, Tali should have things well in hand."

"I stand corrected then. I have two people at Mossad I can trust." He said with a grin before suddenly turning serious.

"Clark, I know what you are thinking, but Ari Haswani is not a terrorist."

"No, he's just the reason that my sister in all but blood is currently on a ventilator Ziva."

"How is she Clark?"

"Not great, but I'm hoping that she'll be okay. She has to be okay." He said softly.

"Do you want to grab a coffee?" Ziva asked, and Clark looked at her in shock.

"We have to catch Haswani, and you want to get coffee?"

"Clark, I can see how much you are hurting. You will not do any good if you cannot focus. Have you taken a break or even slept since Chloe was shot?"

"I'm the Director of NCIS Ziva, I can't afford to take breaks." He replied, ignoring her question. In truth he was exhausted; he hadn't slept in nearly twenty-four hours and the only time he had been out of his office was to visit with Chloe.

"Exactly Clark, you are the Director, which means that you are the boss. So what if people get annoyed that you went out for coffee? They cannot say anything."

"Alright, I guess I can spare a few minutes." He replied before walking over to her, the two of them heading out of the office and out of the building without so much as a word.

"Thank you Ziva. I didn't realize how much I needed this." Clark said as he took a grateful sip from his coffee.

"You know what this reminds me of?" She asked with a soft smile.

"That time we broke curfew and headed out to that little diner in the city?" Clark asked, and she nodded both of them getting lost in the memory.

_Flashback-7 years earlier_

"_That sucked." Clark muttered as he and Ziva walked back up towards the house, the young man resisting the urge to curse. He knew that his mother wouldn't be happy if he did, and she seemed to have a sixth sense for things like that. She said it was a mom thing, but Clark often wondered which of them had the superpowers. It had been six months since the sixteen year-old Kryptonian and his family had moved to Israel. His father had been ordered by the Director of NCIS to guard the Director of Mossad and try to find out who was trying to kill him this time. Apparently being the Director of Mossad meant that there were assasination attempts every other week. The only reason Eli had even allowed Gibbs to be assigned to his team was because NCIS suspected rogue naval officers may be involved. Once they had arrived Clark had been volunteered to join the David children's daily training program, and so far it hadn't been that great. They were wokene up at four in the morning seven days a week, and then spent the rest of the day training. Runs, obstacle courses, tactics, weapons training. Enemy surveillance, survival skills. The list went on and they did it all without complaint. Clark had decided to wear the blue kryptonite ring so that the David's didn't begin to suspect anything, and he immediately regretted it. Eli was basically a sadist, demanding perfection and not tolerating failure from anyone. He seemed to take a particular pleasure in seeing how far he could push Clark before the young man asked for respite. Ari, and Ziva said it was because he wanted Clark to break, something the young man had no intention of doing. He wasn't about to give Eli the satisfaction of seeing him quit, but it had been a close thing. Every single time the young man thought he had accomplished something Eli would find something to make his life harder. Today was particularly brutal. They were split into teams of two and dropped off in the forest blindfolded at two in the morning. They had until sunset to find their way out or they would be doing it all over again that night. Of course Clark could have gotten himself and Ziva through it quite easily with his powers, but he didn't want Eli to suspect anything so he chose not to. He was grateful that he was partnered with Ziva. She was the best when it came to things like this, and so they had made it back a few hours before sunset with Talia and Ari making it with only moments to spare. However, Eli hadn't stopped there. Instead he spent the next six hours making their lives hell, making them spar with each other until their bruises had bruises and then practice their shooting until Clark felt like his finger would fall off from pulling the trigger so much. He was able to smile when he saw the target however; every single shot had been a kill shot. Eli could say he had been lucky until hell froze over but everyone knew that the young man had done all of that on skill._

"_Yes it did. Although you did quite well Clark. You are taking to this like a goose to water." _

"_A duck to water Zi." He responded with a smile and she nodded, returning his smile with one of her own. Ziva was who he was closest to of all of the David children. They were practically joined at the hip unless Eli seperated them or they were asleep. Ziva was his best friend, like Chloe but different. Chloe he regarded as a sister, but Ziva...Ziva was something else. He regarded Tali much like Kelly; she was his younger sister and he would do anything for her, while Ari was his brother. He was broken out of his thoughts by Ziva's voice._

"_We should get inside. It is almost curfew." _

"_What's on your mind Ziva?" Clark asked as they walked towards the house. Ziva hadn't said anything, and the look on her face hadn't changed, but Clark knew her well enough to know when something was bothering her._

"_It is nothing Clark I just..."_

"_You just what Ziva?" He asked softly, and she turned to him, looking into his eyes._

"_I wish that I could be normal, that I could spend one night as something other than someone being groomed for Mossad."_

"_Well why don't you?" He asked, and she looked up in surprise._

"_What do you mean Clark?"_

"_Well I know this little cafe in Tel Aviv that's open late. I went there to get coffee for my dad a couple months ago because he had to work late. It's not too far."_

_For a moment Ziva said nothing. Then she smiled and nodded._

"_Okay. We will wait until everyone is asleep and go."_

_Three hours later the two were sitting at a table sipping coffee and looking at the stars. _

"_Thank you Clark. I needed this."_

"_I'm happy to help Ziva. You're my best friend, and you deserve to have a normal evening." _

_He didn't say what he was really thinking, that she deserved a normal life. He knew that Ziva would never have a normal life, not with Eli as her father. He felt his fists clench at the thought of the man, so absorbed in his thought that he missed Ziva's question._

"_I'm sorry, what did you say?"_

"_I said that I thought Chloe was your best friend."_

"_She is. She's practically my sister."_

"_So does that make me your sister as well?"_

"_No. You are most definitely not my sister."_

"_Then what am I?" She asked, leaning closer to him. There was almost no space between them now, the two so close that Clark could feel her breath on his face. Then the next thing he knew, his lips were on hers. A moment later the two broke apart, both of their faces flushed. _

"_What is going on here?"_

_Both teens turned to where a furious Eli David was striding up to them, men on either side of him._

"_Abba-"_

"_Do not speak. You disgust me, defiling yourself with this child, this American swine. Do you have any idea what Mikal will think? He is the one you are promised to after all."_

"_I do not care what he will think. For the first time I am truly happy Abba. I know what it is to be a normal teenager-"_

"_You are not a normal teenager Ziva! You are my heir, my successor in the Mossad. As for you boy...I do not want you to ever speak to my daughter again. One of my men will escort you back to the residence and ensure you remain there."_

_Clark wanted to protest, but he knew it would be no good. If anything, it would only make things harder for Ziva. So instead of protesting he just nodded before walking over to where one of the men were waiting and getting into the SUV. An hour later he was pacing around his room, debating about using his powers to get out. He had been locked in the room, and there were a pair of guards outside. He had asked to see his father, but his request had been denied, the guard saying that Gibbs would be told in the , as Clark began another circuit around the room, he heard something that made his choice about getting out all to easy. It was a sound that chilled him to his very soul, a sound that would result in nightmares for years to come. He heard Ziva scream._

"_Have you nothing to say for yourself? Perhaps an apology for soiling our family name?"_

_Ziva said nothing from where she stood, but her eyes said it all. She did not regret anything. Suddenly she screamed as she felt Eli's fist strike her face, tasting her own blood in her mouth as she fell to the floor._

"_You still have not learned. You still have not understood. Your life is not one that can be wasted on foolish dreams or fantasy's."_

"_At least I have dreams." She replied coldly. Eli raised his hand to strike her again, but stopped when he heard the voice behind him._

"_Don't you touch her." Clark said coldly, a gun in his hand pointed straight at Eli David's chest._

"_What are you doing here?"_

"_You need to train your men better. I took them out like it was nothing, and it wasn't. Just like me putting a bullet in you will be nothing...nothing less than you deserve."_

"_You cannot do this!" He replied, and Clark laughed coldly._

"_You have no idea what I am capable of. Besides, you trained us to be merciless, to do what was necessary. Well this is necessary."_

"_Clark, stop. Put the gun down son."  
>"What are you doing here dad?" He asked, not moving to lower his gun.<em>

"_I was told what happened, and when I found your room empty and heard the raised voices...well it was easy to find you. Now please put the gun down."_

"_Why? He deserves it."_

"_That's not your call. You're not an executioner."_

_Clark sighed, and for a moment the room was silent. Then there was a sound like thunder as the gun discharged. _

"_Ahh!" Eli cried out as the bullet pierced his kneecap, making the man fall to the floor. Clark walked over to him, looking into the man's eyes, the young man's gaze one of cold fury._

"_You are not a father, you are a monster, and I will only say this once. If you ever raise your hand to any of your children ever again, I will take my time and kill you slowly. There will not be a place on this Earth that you will be able to hide from me."_

_With that Clark walked over and took Ziva into his arms, walking past his father and out of the room. Clark and his family left the next day, the official story being that there had been no attempt on Eli's life in almost six months so the threat must be over. However, everyone knew the truth. _

Clark and Ziva kept in touch over the years through letters, but that was all. As they looked at each other, both smiled at the memory before attempting to speak at once.

"Ziva-"

"Clark-"

Both of them blushed and shut their mouths. There was silence for a moment before Clark finally broke it.

"Please, ladies first."

"I was just thinking that you never did answer my question all those years ago. If I am your best friend but not like your sister, then what am I?"

"You're my best friend, and the woman I love." He replied before leaning forward and kissing her softly.

"I love you too Clark." Ziva replied once they had separated.

"Ziva...Ziva wait!" Clark called as he caught up to her. He had decided to tell her about his powers, believing that if he was going to have any sort of real relationship with her he needed to be totally honest. In hindsight, he really should have expected her reaction.

"Wait?! I am through waiting! All I want to know is how? How could you claim to love me and leave me with Mossad and Eli when you had the power to get me out? How could you leave me to be turned into an assassin? Into a monster?"

Clark quickly grabbed her in his arms, moving so fast that no one would have seen it. When he set her down a moment later she found herself standing against a wall, Clark's face inches from her own.

"Let's make one thing perfectly clear Ziva. You are not a monster. You are someone who gets their hands dirty, someone who makes the hard choices so that other people don't have to. As for why I didn't get you out...I was trying to keep you and my family safe."

"How does leaving me in the Mossaad keep me safe?"

"If you disappeared who would Eli and Rivken have gone after first? They would have gone after me, and when they didn't me they would have gone after my family. I love you Ziva, but I couldn't put my mother and my sister at risk. If it was just dad then that- no even then it wouldn't have been different. You deserved better than what I could have offered you Ziva."

"A life with the man I love."

"A life on the run Ziva. We could never settle down in one place, never have any real friends..we both deserve better than that."

"You are right. The thought of what my father would have done to your mother, to Kelly... I understand. However, there is one thing I still do not understand. With all your powers-"

"Why didn't I at least visit you?" He finished, and she nodded.

"I'm ashamed to admit that my reasons for not visiting were completely selfish. I knew if I saw you I wouldn't be able to resist the urge to take you with me, and then there was the fact that you were promised to Rivken. Having to see you knowing that you were in a relationship with him it would have killed me."

"Even though you knew from my letters that I did not love him?"

"I was scared Ziva. I was scared that one day I would decide to come for you and I would be too late. You would have fallen for Rivken, and I would be forced to hide my feelings. I would be your friend, but that was it and the thought was too much to bear."

Suddenly he tensed and Ziva could see the fear present in his eyes even before he began to speak again.

"Please tell me that I'm not too late. Please tell me that my leaving you in Mossad didn't-"

"No Clark. I do not love Mikal. To be honest I do not even like him, and I understand why you didn't come for me. That is all in the past. All that matters now is the future."

"I want a future with you Ziva. I want the house with the dog and the 2.5 kids and the white picket fence. I want it all Ziva."

"I do too Clark." She said, and Clark smiled before leaning down and kissing her.

"You know we should probably get back to the office." Ziva said after they broke the kiss.

"You're right, but first I need to ask you something." He said before getting on one knee.

"Ziva David, will you marry me?"

"Yes." She replied.

There was no ring, and they were in an alley in Washington D.C. so it couldn't be called romantic, but neither of them cared. In their hearts and minds they were engaged, and that was all that mattered.

"It's about time you got back probie, we've got something." Tony said the minute they walked into NCIS, his eyes immediately going from Clark to Ziva.

"Agent DiNozzo this is Director David of Mossad. Director this is Special Agent-"

"Anthony DiNozzo."

"I'll thank you not to interrupt me DiNozzo. Now what have you got?"

"Gibbs has arranged a trap for Haswani. If we're right and he takes the bait he'll be at Gibbs house in an hour. Then we can finally nail that son of a bitch."

"Remember Tony, we need him alive."

"No, you need him alive because you're sleeping with his boss. I personally have no problem putting a bullet in his skull."

"Believe me, Ari Haswani will not be getting off lightly. He will spend the rest of his life in a dark hole for what he has done. After we interrogate him." Ziva finished darkly.

"I guess I was wrong. You're not like your father. I'll keep you updated probie."

"Actually Tony, I think Ziva and I are going with you on this one. Director's perogative." He said, and Tony nodded.

"You know, it was a nice touch. Going back to the place Sullivan was shot." Ari said as he looked at Gibbs. Gibbs only smirked, making Ari glare at him.

"Something amuses you Jethro?"

"Yeah. I'm really gonna enjoy what happens next." He said just as Tony, Ziva, Tim and Clark came into the room.

"Ari Haswani, you are under arrest." Clark said firmly as he cuffed him just as Tony walked over and punched him in the face.

"That's for my girlfriend you son of a bitch."

Twenty minutes later Ari was in an NCIS interrogation room with Clark and Ziva across from him.

"What happened to you Ari? What happened to the man I looked up to, the man who loved his family and his country who promised me he would protect his sisters from Eli?" Clark asked, and Ari laughed coldly.

"What happened is that in trying to protect my sisters I was unable to protect myself. Eli created what he always wanted." He replied, and Clark just sighed before he stood up and walked out Ziva following behind him.

"Clark-"Ari called making the young man turn back.

"Take care of them. Tali and Ziva. Do not let them become what I have."

"I promise."

_Three Days Later_

"So I guess this is it." Clark said as Ziva stood in his office. Her flight was due to leave in an hour and if she didn't leave in the next couple minutes she would miss it. Well that wasn't totally true as Clark could get to the airport in seconds. The problem was if he took her there he wouldn't be able to let her go.

"I do not want to say goodbye Clark, but-"

"I know. This is what happens when we decided to take the Director's chair."

"Then how do we handle this? Our relationship?"

"We find a way to balance our personal and professional lives. We've done it before and we can do it again."

"Shalom Clark."

"Shalom Ziva." He replied, kissing her softly. Watching her walk away for the second time in his life, Clark knew they would be okay. They would find a balance.

_Four months later_

Clark opened the door to his office, knife already in hand as he saw that the light he usually left on had been cut off. Now Janet could have done it but she had come down with the flu and had called in sick, and no one else went into his office.

However as he walked into the room, the light came on the person in the chair saying three simple words.

"Good afternoon...Director."

**A/N: There you have it! I hope you all enjoyed it, and please review!**


End file.
